Tick tock, the clock goes oblivious of my predicament. The room sways underneath my lying form. I shut my eyes and take in deep breaths. My chest constricts with pains as tears escape from me. Is he leaving because I…

He comes when life is sweetest and strikes. This blow comes in various forms and is struck at random, shrouding the identity of the next victim. He captures the soul and traps it. The body's now as useless as a…

Abike, I hear a familiar voice call my name,yet I see no one. I feel someone shaking and calling me with an increased tempo. Abike my daughter pleases answer me ? Immediately I hear this I feel uncaged. Unfortunately it's…

I dwell in the abyss that is your deepest fears, in the dark corners of your heart illumined by only moonlight. At night when you tussle on the bed reliving your failures and worry, I feast. Engorged from your terror,…

Like tattoos, scars are mementos; permanent reminders of past events. Mine carries dark memories; memories of Chiadi. His pretty brown eyes once mesmerized me. His tongue was sweet yet vicious. His hands caressed and wounded me. Whenever I tried to…

'Your mother says you spend much longer time in your room. You no longer play with friends. You hardly come out for dinner. What's the problem? Dr. Ijeoma asked. 'There is a monster in my school. He put me on…

When Alhaji Saidu come for me, I knew my life was going to take a twist. Mama prodded me. 'He's now your husband, Halima, do what he says.' I was 10 at that time. Alhaji Saidu was a wolf in…

'Good morning Kabiyesi. There has been another killing. A gruesome one,' said Otunba Demola, shaking his head. 'Has the murderer being caught?' Kabiyesi asked. There was silence in his chamber. 'It can't be me, I was in my chamber all…

"No rest for the wicked!" I winced from the ringing in my head before my eyes snapped open. The tormentor was at it again. "Blade razor", scrapped his truncheon against the bars, creating loud pitches of noise as he went…

You stare at the admission letter in your hands and you realize you're finally going away. Maybe the new environment will take away the memories of everything that happened. You had gone amnesic that morning that you just walked about…

Father said I should forgive him, that vengeance was of the Lord. ''Ekemma.'' His eyes bore admonition. ''One who harbours grudge against another is a prisoner of oneself.'' But the din of Aguiyi's door slamming close, shutting me out permanently,…

"Some of you call him Chukwu or Allah. Inside here, you'll call him Abbai. I'm the only God here. Welcome to Kirikiri Prison. Your new home." Sergeant Abbai was a young and brutal jailor. Twenty years ago that was how…

I looked into the eyes of Kolawole Makinde; renowned journalist and freedom fighter. A man who had dedicated his life to the destruction of my presidency. I didn't see the fire of liberalism or the courage that caused the people…

It was the scariest space I had come to know. Dark, slimy, dank and so very cold. I don't know what was worse, the cold or the dark. Perhaps even the fear, for it had me paralyzed. He had a…

She smiles and waves at onlookers. Begging them to notice her. What a perfect life. She wears her pleated pants and crisp white shirt and heels with pride. Oh how happy she looks, thriving even. She's on the move again,…

As I sit twirling my wedding ring, I remember their words; "Igbo men don't respect their wives" , "Intertribal marriages never thrive" ,"Chidi is not the right man for you". How wrong they all were, I say to myself with…

I thought I like her, we held hands ate from the same dish. (laughed), I mean love irony makes me laugh! See, have always had eyes for this sinister, got angry with her for being critical. I said she's jealous…

Yesterday, Oluchi was killed. A week before, Nkem was killed. Last month, Uloma. Their deaths? The king’s orders. They dishonored tradition when they demanded education. When they refused mutilation. When they spoke their minds. In ignorance, I raised no eyebrow.…

Pluck an eye, Pluck two balls off, Slice Lower abdomen for thick rolls of meaty substance covered in red moist, Forcefully separate the nails from the fingers' and then plant a small live python in his throat and watch it…

I knew i was studying hard but something In me kept reminding me how much could not afford to fail. I was only raised by a mother, had no father and even though I knew I wasn't the only one…

We all have beasts in us, everyone of us. Mine is irascibility. Yesterday I accidentally killed her out of annoyance, for questioning my late nights. To cover my tracks, I drove to the Third Mainland Bridge in the night and…

"I no be thief oh...abeg" The first slap was still ringing in my ear. "Wetin Carry you come here?" one asked me. I been give general daughter belle, so them arrest me. They laughed and jeered, then came the beatings.…

'Please you have to let me out of here,' I screamed aloud. 'You don't have to do this, I'm someone's child, please have mercy.' The old man passed the food through an opening - the only opening in the steel…

They let us out today, again. Yesterday, we spent thirty-five minutes outside our cell. The day before, it was twenty-five minutes. Everyone was filled with gaiety. 'God go bless our warden,' said pa Enoch. I had come to terms with…

Akin locked the other prisoner into his cell and wondered how he must feel. As a warden, he's been taken away people's freedom all his life. He reckoned in his thougtfulness that everyone had a jail. He knew all too…

They let us out today, again. Yesterday we spent thirty-five minutes outside our cell. The day before, it was twenty-five minutes. Everyone is filled with gaiety. 'God go bless our warden,' said pa Enoch. I had come to terms with…

They let us out today, again. Yesterday we spent thirty-five minutes outside our cell. The day before, it was twenty-five minutes. Everyone is filled with gaiety. 'God go bless our warden,' said pa Enoch. I had come to terms with…

'Mama please can I go out and play?' I asked. 'Nnenna I have told you umpteen times. I know you want to spend time with the other children, but you have to believe me when I say it's not safe.…

Welcome to my New life. Now am being escorted into the prison, same prison I once had control of, was a boss to these prisoners but now am inducted as one of them -a prisoner! I'm Handcuffed both hands and…

She fell to the floor, her head hitting the cold tiles, she could hear her heartbeat getting louder and louder each second. How much more could she take? His footsteps came closer, he was breathing heavily, "Get up!". This was…

Dad looked at me with disgust. 'Why would you want to change the family name?', he asked. 'Dad, I've told you already. I am born again. I can no longer bear Fatoki because it exalts a another god'. 'To hell…

Father was a deity: We feared him like traditional adherents fear their gods, lest they strike in anger. He outlawed playing outdoors and associating with our peers in the neighborhood. As a guerdon, he ripped the body of the defaulters…

Over the past 3months, I came to understand what it meant to be afraid. I had stared fear in the eyes, I knew him by name. As I walked into the four walls of hell, quaking and shivering. I took…

He was the man that was venerated. A disciplinarian and a pious man. Now a correction officer, at least that is what everyone conferred on him. Truancy in the village stopped. Boys who disobeyed their parents were sent to Mr.…

Mama hugged me tightly when I arrived yesterday. She says I was gone for too long, but I left this place for my matrimonial home just three months ago. Mama thinks I'm back for good.I wonder how she'll take the…

I sat on the old rusty cushion, my leg folded beneath me. There was no going back, no moving forward. I was in jail, the worst kind, the prison of the mind. Tears streaming down my face like an endless…